Sacrifice
by een nihc
Summary: Itachi learned a lesson about true sacrifice. Companion fic to 'Scarlet'.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Sacrifice

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Itachi wasn't surprised at all when he found his brother waiting for him in the woods. He waved a hand and motioned for his partner to leave them alone. Kisame immediately picked up his hint and nodded.

"I'll leave him to you then."

With that, Kisame turned away and disappeared into the shadows of the trees.

"You killed Sakura! I'll avenge her," Sasuke clenched his teeth as he spoke. The three tumoes of his Sharingan spun furiously and his body was tensed in the attack stance with kunai in hand, ready to lunge at Itachi at any minute.

"I'm waiting," Itachi's voice sounded rather bored and laid back, which added fuel to his brother's fury.

_Predictable as ever._ Itachi sneered when Sasuke began his attack.

The memories of time spent with Sakura flickered through Sasuke's mind as he fought with Itachi: the first time they had kissed under the sakura tree, the first time they had said "I love you" and then cried afterwards, the first time they had made love to each other… He used to think that his life was only divided into two stages: the years before the Uchiha massacre and the years after. But so much more had changed since Naruto retrieved him from Orochimaru and now life with Sakura was a whole new stage.

Both Naruto and Sakura had stuck to him through thick and thin, especially during the difficult times from when he first got back to Konohagakure. He even managed to continue his shinobi life under surveillance – all thanks to them. Then everything began to change when he realized his love for Sakura was more than love between teammates. They eventually got married and lived a happy married life together. And he had slowly learned to let go of his need for vengeance for her. But that was not to be. Itachi had killed her when he was away for a mission. Itachi had taken away the most precious person from his life again and nothing could stop him from avenging her and killing this man this time.

After all these years, Itachi was still superior. Sasuke knew he had to turn to his last resort if he ever wanted a chance to kill his brother. It was risky and dangerous but he would have to try. His years served under Orochimaru had not been a waste. He had studied and learned many secret kinjutsu during those years. One had particularly caught his attention. Orochimaru may have suspected something but he said nothing. Sasuke took this as the sennin's silent consent and kept the jutsu as his trump card.

"Raikiri!"

Itachi recognized at once the more powerful version of Chidori that was developed by Kakashi. Since Sasuke learned Chidori from Kakashi, he wasn't surprised that Sasuke would also know how to use Raikiri. The blue chakra that illuminated the dark surroundings was bright like lightning to his eyes and the sound of thousands of birds chirping was like thunder to his ears. It was one of the most powerful kinds of jutsu that Itachi had ever seen. Itachi braced himself for the coming attack as Sasuke charged in his direction.

10 meters, 5 meters, 1 meter… now!

Just when Itachi was about to counter the attack, Sasuke suddenly halted in his tracks just an arm's length away from Itachi. Much to Itachi's surprise, instead of trying to kill him, Sasuke thrust his palm into his own chest instead! Blood splattered on Itachi's face and it didn't take long for him to realize it wasn't his.

"Why?" Itachi asked curtly after Sasuke collapsed to the ground.

It didn't make sense at all that his brother would commit such a suicidal action before killing him. Itachi hated it when things didn't add up.

Sasuke smirked even as blood spilled at the corner of his mouth. He smirk was so smug that Itachi would've punched his face if his curiosity hadn't got the better of him. Just when Itachi got close enough, Sasuke suddenly shot out a hand and gripped Itachi's ankle firmly while his other hand flew through a series of hand seals.

_A trap! _Itachi's mind screamed. But it still took him half a second before his reflexes kicked in. He jabbed his kunai at Sasuke's hand to free himself from its grip but the grip remained as firm as ever. It was too late by the time he shoved his kunai into Sasuke's chest - Sasuke had completed the seal before he took his last breath. Sasuke's smirk lingered on his face even in death, as if truly satisfied that all had gone according to his plan.

Soon, Itachi began to feel the effects of the mysterious jutsu. It was one that he hadn't encountered before. His Sharingan had copied the hand seals of that jutsu but it was no longer any use to him since he was already caught in the jutsu. His chest burned and ached as if some unseen forces had punched a hole at his chest, forcing him to clutch at it. Then he could feel a strong current running through his inner coil system and numbing his heart.

Realization finally struck Itachi when he crashed to the ground, face pitch down. The jutsu that Sasuke had used was a kinjutsu that made the target suffer the same wounds and pain that the user had inflicted to his own body. It was used as a double-edged blade to bring down an enemy at all costs. In this case, Sasuke hadclearly aimed to kill him –even if it cost him his own life in return. He had underestimated his brother and now he was paying dearly for it. But he had no time for regret. His vision went red and then black and then he saw no more.

Indeed, love can makes a person willing to make great sacrifices – but Itachi had forgotten that hate could too.

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A/N: This can be read as a companion fic, following the ending of my previous work "Scarlet". I'm not too confident about the jutsu part. I invented it on my own and it doesn't really have a name. Does the way the jutsu works sounds logical enough? I mean it kinds of work like a Vodoo doll, except the user uses his own body instead._


End file.
